NHS and care emergency in Scarborough and York: Why Sajid Javid must visit North Yorkshire – The Yorkshire Post says

IF THE London Government wants evidence of the perilous state of the NHS as ambulance waiting times grow it should heed today’s prognosis by North Yorkshire hospital consultant Steve Holmberg: “There is no doubt that patient harm is resulting from this position.”
Ambulances waiting outside Scarborough Hospital.Ambulances waiting outside Scarborough Hospital.
Ambulances waiting outside Scarborough Hospital.

Words carefully chosen by the consultant cardiologist, they are also indicative of the staffing crisis facing York and Scarborough Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust at this time.

The statistics do no not lie. There were 675 cases in December when ambulance crews had to wait more than an hour outside York and Scarborough hospitals before seriously ill patients could be passed into the care of medics. By comparison, there were just 44 such occurrences in December 2020.

Sajid Javid is the Health and Social Care Secretary.Sajid Javid is the Health and Social Care Secretary.
Sajid Javid is the Health and Social Care Secretary.
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Equally alarming is how the number of 12-hour trolley waits rose from 14 in December 2020 to 298 in December 2021 – evidence of a “completely unprecedented” challenge now cited by Mr Holmberg.

And while Health and Social Care Secretary Sajid Javid will point, with justification, to Covid’s unforeseen consequences, and also a need for staff to self-isolate when the Omicron variant was at its peak, it is clear matters are being compounded by delays discharging predominantly elderly patients due to shortages community care provision.

Mr Javid already has an open invitation to visit campaigner Mike Padgham’s care homes in Scarborough. Why doesn’t he combine this with a visit to the resort’s hospital so he can see why such areas still remain in desperate need of a joined-up health and care policy?

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